SI charred to death as car catches fire

PUDUCHERRY: A sub-inspector of police was charred to death after the car in which he was sleeping caught fire on Wednesday. Sub-inspector Dhanapal (59) of D’ Nagar police station in Gorimedu, had undergone a bypass surgery  recently and was on medical leave. He was sleeping inside the car while his son Devarenjith and daughter-in-law Sivasakathi had gone to pay a visit to a near by finance firm around 12.30 pm. As he was not able to walk, Dhanapal was sleeping inside the Tata Indigo Manza car, which was parked on Rangapillai Street with the air conditioner switched on. His son and daughter-in-law were at the finance firm’s office to pledge some jewels.All of a sudden, the car caught fire and was engulfed in flames. Dhanapal, who was in the backseat was charred to death in no time.A fault in the vehicle’s AC unit is believed to have caused the fire, while the central locking system got  jammed. Surprisingly, no one from the busy Rangapillai Street tried to break the car open or help Dhanapal. The flames were doused by fire tenders, which rushed to the spot on information. The Grand Bazaar police reached the spot and pulled out the body, which was charred beyond recognition.On information, Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) B Srikanth and Superintendents of Police N T Sivadasan, S Ramaraj and T Bairavasamy reached the spot.SSP Srikanth told reporters that the fire might have been caused due to a fault in the air conditioner and the door could not be opened due malfunctioning of the auto-locking system because of the fire.  The Grand Bazaar police have registered a case and are investigating.